I'm not the biggest fan of this arc, mainly because it feels like half an arc. Buffy's felt a bit directionless this season and that's only compounded here. George Jeanty's art and the amount of people he has to draw doesn't help. I have a difficult time telling some of his characters apart. I also feel like his art is regressing some, especially when it comes to drawing characters to a recognizable likeness to the show.

The Good: Xander makes you care about Dawn. That's what we remaining skeptical fans have needed since the moment Dawn appeared in the series. A reason to care about her. She's grown up some, but she's still, at heart, the annoying little sister we all wish had never been introduced. Her relationship with Xander is the only thing that makes her likable, but at least we have that now. Xander is still full of his flaws, the one character that never evolves past his episode, always reverting back to...

To date, Season 9 has had some individual good moments, but it's too often felt directionless. That finally changes here in book 4, when we get an appropriately epic story that feels like it blooming into some big. And, just in time, as this is the penultimate volume!

I had felt this within the first couple issues, the plot seemed light compared to previous volumes. I think it’s because this volume is basically just a stepping stone. It gets all the players where they need to be for the final act. While I don’t mind the ‘Back to Basics’ approach, it just felt like not a whole lot was going on in each issue. I did like the mini reveals such as (view spoiler)[Anaheed is a Slayer who was tasked to protect Buffy and Simone’s plan to make herself stronger than Buf...

Season 9's reading a lot better than season 8 did. Shit just went weird in 8, it was as if they had a moment where everybody sat around a table and said something like "hey, we're not on TV, we don't have to worry about a specialFX budget anymore, let's just got crazy!" Only somebody forgot that it would be a good idea to have a solid story in place.

When I heard Illyria was going to be in Buffy, I'll admit it, I let out a fangirl squeal. And this volume of Season 9 did not disappoint. After a somewhat disjointed Season 8, Season 9 has been all solid, but Welcome to the Team is by far my favorite so far. Not only does it expand upon the themes of Season 9 itself, but the implications that it leaves you with for what's coming are pretty staggering.

Meh. Illyria's cameo was fun, and Dawn's illness intriguing, but the rest just felt tired. The plot with Simone could be cool, but it's too jerky (as always). Too much is going on for any of the plotlines to breathe. I still don't give a crap about Billy or Dowling, though Anaheed's reveal was all right.Xander stays backstabbing, though, so there's that old staple. 😒

Posted originally on my blog: The Writer's InkwellSo after the oddness of the last volume, a few things began to make a little more sense in this one. For one, I wish I had paid more attention to the Billy the Vampire Slayer as he is now officially a member of Buffy's slaying brigade. But in truth, I paid enough attention so that I wasn't completely lost when I picked up this book, so that's all that matters, right?In this volume, Buffy is summoned away from a zompire battle by a mystical counci...

Despite the higher stakes in this arc of Season 9, the Back To Basics idea really hammers home here as Buffy and co. find themselves at the centre of a lot of converging plotlines from Season 8 and beyond. The drama between the characters is excellent, and I like the focus on Xander and other newer supporting characters like Anaheed and Billy. The artwork is consistent as usual, and the end of the volume sets up the final arc nicely. Interested to see how it'll all end now.

Into it! As much as I don't really like Xander, this plotline about Dawn and him adjusting to a non-magical life and dealing with being the one always watching but never acting is drawing me in. Plus, Buffy's roomie is a secret Slayer! Illyria shows up! Willow's back! And Severin is an interesting villain.

#1 Freefall ★★★★☆#2 On Your Own ★★★☆☆#3 Guarded ★★☆☆☆#4 Welcome to the Team ★★★☆☆#5 The Core ★★★☆☆I hate when Buffy's friends start to go all anti-Buffy when shits hits the fan after she makes decisions that they never have to even contemplate making.

There were some great story arcs in this volume. We see Illyria come back and she is supposed to be this very powerful being of magic. Yet, within a few pages someone has sucked out her power. Yawn. Guess she isn't all that powerful. Silly. Willow makes an appearance again and all is right with the Buffy verse. Yeah. One of the best arcs of this story is that Dawn is beginning to fade away without the link to magic in the world. She is still a ball of magic. It's a very cool idea, but it other p...

In really short: Horrible art, amazing story!First, the bad part: the drawings were such a let down. AWFUL! Faces are deformed, Buffy is unrecognizable, nobody seems to be able to draw properly Dawn, etc. Hell, you know there is an issue when you can't be sure whether a character is Billy, the male slayer, or Anaheed, Buffy's roomate who is in fact a woman.On the story side though, it is great. From the cover, we could expect a comeback from Illyria and such a comeback is a pleasure. The cast of...

Illyria!!!! Is it me or is the artwork slowly improving?!Loving Billy the VS :) Not so sure about Xander’s character arc but I’m waiting to see where it goes...

Another volume of season 9, another pretty good but not great volume. Buffy is now teamed up with her near vamp-kill squad but things might not go in her favor when a old friend comes to visit. On top of that we have Dawn dealing with being sick and Xander losing his cool far too often which leads to some terrible choices. We then have our new vampire slayer trying to prove himself but will he get in over his head? Let's find out right now! Good: The pacing is pretty well done. Never boring, flo...

4.5*Book source ~ LibraryFrom Goodreads:Buffy is unwillingly recruited by the demon Illyria and a mystical council to take down the Siphon—for good. He is on the loose again, and a danger to all remnants of magic! Meanwhile, back home the loss of magic has begun to affect those closest to Buffy . . . Collect issues #16-#20 of Season 9.I’ve been waiting forever and a day for this volume to show up at the library. I’ve read the rest of Season 9, so this one fills in the gap of what’s going on with...

3/5 stars.

I hope Dawn will be okay. Can't wait to read the next comic!

There's a lot going on in this book, but it very much focuses on getting back to the Buffy basics - the scooby gang (plus a new regular or two), and a big bad, with what should have been a slam dunk crossover with Illyria. There's a lot of story here, and a fair bit of classic Buffy angst, but it doesn't quite settle the way I'd hope, for some reason. A good read, but not a great one. Maybe part of it is that this doesn't offer much closure - it's very much a piece of a larger plot and the end p...

Illyria!! Willow! This was a great issue! Super exciting.Full review here: http://tinyurl.com/oqqhxjp